• Adam Jury (confirmed on his blog and Twitter) and Jennifer Harding (confirmed on Dumpshock) have left Catalyst
• Jennifer has stated publicly: “However, I will state that on Monday, March 15th, I resigned from working as CGL’s bookkeeper and office manager, due to a conflict involving my personal ethics. The Operations Manager resigned the week before that, for similar personal reasons.” (we assume that the operations manager referenced is David Stansel-Garner, though this is unconfirmed)
• Some freelancers have indicated that payments are running behind, though others have current accounts (this could be nothing – inconsistency in the timeliness of payments is not uncommon for small businesses that rely on freelancers)
• Conversation on the ClassicBattletech forum seems to be non-existent (some threads on the topic have been removed), but a few of the Catalyst folks are talking on the Dumpshock forums
• As a reminder, ShadowRun and Battletech are both actually owned by Topps, Cthulhutech is owned by Wildfire and Eclipse Phase is owned by Posthuman Studios
• Jason Hardy (line developer for Shadowrun) has indicated that a release from management should be forthcoming shortly and has asked people to avoid speculation

To be clear, there was a fair bit of debate on our internal discussion list as to whether we should even post this item. That said, there’s so much speculation going on and we’re such big fans of the work the company has done (I mean, seriously, have you seen the Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition? It’s gorgeous!) that we wanted to be up front and only print what we’ve got from first hand, reliable sources and hopefully bring a bit of calm to the situation (we have also sent a request for comment directly to Catalyst). I for one am hopeful that things are being blown out of proportion and that Catalyst will continue putting out more of the high quality products we’ve seen over the last few years.

* Again, I kid because I’m a fan.

** Kidding, kidding.

The starter box will come with 30 minis, 4 mechs, and 2 heroes.  Split that in half and you’ve got your American and German forces.  Future releases include Soviets, Japanese, and even South Americans and Australians.

The minis are all base-coated out of the box, so you can tell armies apart without painting. The minis are pre-assembled, and apparently the base coat is perfect to paint on out-of-the-box, if you’re so inclined.

The setting sounds really interesting, and as you can see here, the minis look like they’ll be pretty awesome. I hope the rules will hold my interest, because I can see this as a minis came I might really be able to get into.

(photo by Jay Adan)

The Visalia Times-Delta pimps retro board games in a column called “Down Memory Lane”. (source) Today she plays Bunco.

CrunchGear pimps Bubble-Talk, an Apples to Apples-like game of playing short phrases onto pictures. (source)

LEGO says that its new line of board games are what’s boosting its sales. (source)

The Hartford Courant pimps board games’ staying power. (source)

A blogger in the Phoenix New Times pimps the foodie board game What’s Cookin?. (source)

Dunstable Today pimps Tom Lennett, the designer of Numenko. (source)

South Africa’s BuaNews pimps Asiphile, a board game about sexual health. (source)

The Financial Mail Women’s Forum pimps girls …. hmmm, that didn’t sound right … by sponsoring a financial board game design challenge. Six girls aged 16 to 17 from Withington Girl’s school, calling their design group “Money Minded”, walked away with £3,000 for the first place design. (source) The game board is brain shaped and it has brain-shaped tokens.

An awesome interview [PDF] with Warhammer designers John Stallard and Rick Priestly in last month’s Battlegames.

Malifaux is a relatively new miniature game from Wyrd Miniatures (originating from their line of off the wall miniatures) that is best described as a Victorian-western-gothic-steampunk-fantasy skirmish game – yeah, you read that right. Essentially, a big magical rift opens up in the 1800’s to a town in another dimension where they discover gems capable of amplifying magical prowess. The game has five factions, each with three “masters” (leaders) who control a force of 4 or more other figures (the game can play with larger groups of miniatures, but it’s not generally considered a good idea):

• Guild – the law & order in the town of Malifaux, these guys have some awesome abilities to mess with the other factions
• Resurrectionists – depraved necromancers whose numbers never seem to dwindle
• Arcanists – hard-core magic users who operate outside the bounds of the law and control elemental forces
• Neverborn – demons and nightmares native to Malifaux’s realm with savage combat capabilities
• Outcasts – ragtag survivors with their own agenda and motivations, with unique and bizarre abilities

Malifaux uses an integrated (or shared) turn where players activate a single miniature at a time, making for some intense back and forth. The rules themselves are clear and clean and really show the best combination of modern rule sets like AT-43, Warmachine and Infinity. The mechanics to the game are super-simple and use an innovative card-flipping mechanic that uses both the value and the suit of the card to determine effects.Each miniature has unique abilities that create real change on the battlefield. The tradeoff is that you won’t want to play with too many miniatures lest you become overwhelmed with options (I personally think this is great as it helps to enforce the skirmish-level nature of the game).

As for the miniatures themselves, these things are gorgeous. Amazingly detailed sculpts that are generous to the newbie (lots of detail that makes drybrushing super effective) and reward the expert. And these miniatures really run the gamut in terms of topics: evil nurses, demon children, zombie hookers and massive ice golems are just a few of the innovative sculpts in the initial line of minis.

You may be thinking, “that sounds great, but I really don’t have a ton of cash to spend on every minis game that comes out.” In my mind, the price is one of the things that makes this game such a no-brainer – a full starting force for a faction is ~$35 US. I don’t mean a minimal force that isn’t balanced (I’m looking at you Privateer Press...), I mean a full force that is designed to be balanced and ready to compete for a price that’s less than most Games Workshop plastic kits. Throw in a rulebook for $35 US and your entry to the game is probably a touch under $70US (throw in a second faction and you’re at $100 for a fully playable force). If you get a chance, this is one you don’t want to pass up.

Iron Wind Metals is known today for its Battletech miniatures and its continuation of some old Ral Partha miniature lines. Today, roughly a third of IWM’s income comes from distribution and wholesale, another third from its online store, and another third from producing or fulfilling miniature lines for other companies.

Iron Wind Metals was formed from the remains of famed miniature company Ral Partha. The history of IWM, Ral Partha, and the Battletech miniature line is somewhat convoluted. Here is a small portion of the story, ignoring many other product lines and ignoring many other versions of the Battletech licenses, such as RPG, CCG, and electronic:

1975

Tom Meier forms Ral Partha, together with Jack Hesselbrock, Marc Rubin, Rich Smethurst, Glenn E. Kidd, and Chuck Crain. Ral Partha pioneers certain productions processes and produces popular miniatures under a D&D license from TSR.

At the time, Tom is in junior high-school, only 16 years old. The company is founded to promote and produce his sculptings. He remains the only sculptor until 1980, and the primary sculptor until he starts a new company in 1988.

1979

Citadel Miniatures, a subsidiary of Games Workshop, acquires the UK Ral Partha license. Citadel promotes Ral Partha in the UK, and in turn Ral Partha promotes Citadel in the US.

1980

Jordan Weisman forms FASA, a company that will eventually acquire Ral Partha.

1982

Michael Noe, eventual factory manager of Ral Partha and of Iron Wind Metals, joins Ral Partha.

Also at this time, Citadel forms a US division, using Ral Partha as manufacturers for their miniatures.

1983

Fantasy Productions (FanPro) is formed. FanPro works into our story later on.

1984

Ral Partha takes over the Citadel US division, marketing them as Ral Partha products. FASA creates the Battledroids board game.

1985

Ral Partha begins producing Battledroids miniatures for FASA.

Tom Meier, as a result of some disagreements over copyright issues and a deal with RawCliffe Pewter, begins looking for alternate venues to market his miniatures.

1986

FASA renames Battledroids to Battletech, owing to a trademark dispute with Lucasfilms. Minifigs acquires the UK Ral Partha license, as well as a Battletech license.

1987

Ral Partha drops the Citadel US line.

1988

Tom Meier forms Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures to do personal projects. He continues to work for Ral Partha on a freelance basis. He continues to retain stock until the company is dissolved.

1989

FASA creates Shadowrun, a fantasy RPG system.

1991

Ral Partha begins producing Shadowrun miniatures. Over the next several years, Ral Partha earns numerous awards for its Battletech and Shadowrun miniature lines.

1997

Wizards of the Coast acquires TSR, shortly thereafter ends Ral Partha’s D&D license, and orders all existing D&D molds destroyed. Pthhhffft. Revenues from other Ral Partha lines also begin to drop, leaving it with only one successful line: Battletech. Update: Shadowrun and fantasy were still making some money, too.

1998

In desperation (Update: or for personal reasons), Ral Partha sells itself to FASA and Zocchi Distribution.

1999

FASA gains sole ownership of Ral Partha. Hasbro buys Wizards of the Coast.

2000

While still at FASA, Jordan Weisman founds WizKids to sell MageKnight, which becomes massively popular.

2001

FASA unexpectedly ceases operations. Various explanations are given as to why, such as exiting the market while things are good. The licenses remain valuable commodities.

WizKids buys Battletech and Shadowrun licenses, as well as many of the original Battletech and Shadowrun miniature lines, although Tom Meier keeps control of many of his lines. WizKids licenses BattleTech and Shadowrun to FanPro LLC, a US division of FanPro.

WizKids spins off Ral Partha, which, owing to various legal issue, becomes Iron Wind Metals. IWM continues to create Ral Partha, Battletech, and Shadowrun lines, as it still does today. IWM’s management includes Michael Noe and Marc Rubin.

2003

InMediaRes forms. ImResMedia creates BattleCorps in order to create BattleTech branded fiction. WizKids licenses Battletech to InMediaRes for this purpose.

Also at this time, Topps buys WizKids.

2005

InMediaRes creates HoloStreets in order to create Shadowrun branded fiction. WizKids licenses Shadowrun to InMediaRes.

2007

Jim Fox forms Fox Miniatures to produce certain Tom Meier lines of miniatures. [Update: Tom says: I'm making a 1/48 WWII line for him he's not marketing them for me. I'm selling the copyright to him, they will be his completely, I'm just doing the sculpting and initial mold making.] While IWM pimps itself at GenCon and Origins, Fox Miniatures jointly pimps their own products together with IWM at other game conventions. Tom also creates figures for Dark Sword Miniatures, who outsources production to IWM.

FanPro LLC loses the licenses for Battletech and Shadowrun. InResMedia creates Catalyst Game Labs to acquire these licenses to create game expansions. CGL includes employees from FanPro LLC.

Also at this time, Tornante buys Topps.

2008

Near the end of the year, Topps shuts down WizKids, citing the economic climate. A scramble ensues to secure the Battletech and Shadowrun lines, as well as other important WizKids lines.

2009

After wrangling, Topps decides to keep the Battletech and Shadowrun licenses for themselves, and sell the rest of WizKids to NECA. Catalyst Game Labs and Iron Wind Metals continue to license Battletech and Shadowrun.

Michael Noe of Iron Wind Miniatures

Battletech

Battletech is a story about combat in a fictional future universe. Several companies license the rights to create products in this universe, including fiction (BattleCorps, a division of InMediaRes), war / role playing books and technology descriptions (Catalyst Game Labs, a division of InMediaRes), and miniatures (Iron Wind Metals). In the past, there have also been a CCG, cartoons, and other products. An online gaming version is being handles by Smith & Tinker, headed by Jordan Weisman.

IWM creates the figures to match new technologies, arms, humans, and vehicles as defined, described, and illustrated by Catalyst Game Labs. In the past, such as when IWM was working alongside FanPro LLC, IWM would have to figure out what was new by looking at the new product catalogs put out by FanPro LLC. Nowadays, CGL gives IWM a heads up over what’s new before their new products hit the public.

To me, it seemed like a natural idea for CGL and IWM to cross-promote each others’ products, but somehow this hasn’t happened, yet.

IWM also does work for Wyrd Miniatures, Impact Miniatures, Dark Sword Miniatures, and Crocodile Games, among others. Oh, and you see those words “Paints and Accessories” in the logo at the top of this post? They tried that, but they don’t do that right now; Reaper Miniatures apparently did/does it better.

Spin Casting

Iron Wind Metals uses spin casting to create miniatures. Starting from sketches, a “green” model is sculpted from hard resin or another material. Larger miniatures might be broken into components, with multiple models for each component. The pieces are all cast separately, and must be assembled and painted by the consumer.

Impressions from the green models are stamped into a heavy rubber layered disk mold. Grooves are scored from the impressions to the center of the mold, so that when pewter is poured into the center of the mold and the mold spun, the pewter travels along the scores to the impressions.

The pewter is heated to a scant 600 degrees. While spinning the mold, pewter is poured in, hardens, and cools in less than a minute. Each piece is inspected, and any pieces not exactly correct, and any extraneous pieces of metal, are tossed back into the pewter soup.

The figures are sorted, sealed into plastic boxes, boxed up for shipment, and FedEx arrives once a day to carry the products to distributors, stores, or partners.

A design released this week, the Oppie, a Battletech vehicle.

Parts of the “green” model for the Oppie, as received from the sculptor. The green model is used to make the molds.

Creating molds from green models. The model is placed between two hard rubber disks and pressed. The shape of the model leaves a permanent impression in the mold. This is done several times, so that each mold can create several figures at once.

All the equipment you see here is fairly old and was manufactured, and amazingly still supported, locally.

One half of a completed mold.

Two complete molds, created using several models. After creating the impressions, lines are scored between the end of the mold to the central hub, into which the pewter will be poured.

A stack of molds done for Wyrd Miniatures.

The archive, containing thousands of molds. I estimate around twenty thousand molds, give or take.

Bars of pewter.

Melted pewter, ready to be poured into molds.

The two rubber disks of the mold are clamped between two silver disks. The disks are spun and the pewter is poured into the center. The pewter fills out the impressions in the mold though centrifugal force. The minis are ready and cool within a minute.

A minute after pouring in the pewter. All the pewter, other than the final product (the disks as the end) is chucked back into the pot.

Plastic boxes and items are placed into this machine to be sealed into shippable products.

Order fulfillment.

(Edit: Shadowrun spelling)

Disclosure: The company gave me one miniature in a sealed pack, which my daughter quickly confiscated.